MMF crowd gets a taste of bourbon excitement with VIP event

Jul. 20—While band after band played on the Master Musicians Festival stage facing the lush green expanse of Festival Field, underneath the shade of the VIP tent, a unique bourbon-flavored event was taking place on Saturday afternoon.

Chad Perkins and Sara Ahlgrim of the popular YouTube series "It's Bourbon Night," which celebrates the favorite spirit of the Bluegrass State, dropped by MMF this past weekend to host a special event featuring notable local figures including one of Somerset's newest business leaders — Scott Neil, COO of Horse Soldier Bourbon.

The tasting panel assembled at the event included Perkins, Ahlgrim, Neil, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, SPEDA President and CEO Chris Girdler, and Willie Wilson, VP General Manager of the local AppHarvest facility— another of the area's recent forays into the world of progressive agribusiness, as they'll be growing strawberries in a high-tech, sustainable indoor farming environment here in Pulaski County.

In fact, Horse Soldier Bourbon, AppHarvest, and SPEDA combined to sponsor the VIP tent at this year's MMF, where one could obtain a special drink using Horse Soldier Bourbon and the classic Kentucky soft drink Ale-8-One and a strawberry garnish, recognizing the production of AppHarvest.

Neil talked at the MMF event about how he and the others behind Horse Soldier Bourbon — former Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group famous for entering Afghanistan on horseback following 9/11; the book and movie "12 Strong" is based on their story — chose to make a home for their business here in this community. Last October, the company broke ground on the new distillery at the former Waitsboro Hills Golf Course in southern Pulaski, which will be home to a planned "Horse Soldier" village, with dining, shopping, and a rotating program of events, festivals, concerts, community rooms, a chapel, an event center, and the American Story Center — a $200 million project in all. A restaurant associated with the company, the Urban Stillhouse, is currently being constructed inside the former Goldenberg Furniture building on the Fountain Square.

Neil told those present that it was "literally driving into Main Street" in Somerset that they felt at home when looking for a community in which to build their distillery.

"This is where we decided to spend the rest of our lives and build something great," said Neil. "Now yes, we've broken ground, yes, we've made a lot of investment. That's the business side, right? We see this as a 100-year brand. And this brand will resonate not only in Somerset ... this little brand in Somerset we hope will take over the world one day. ... That's why we're here."

For several in the VIP tent watching the panel and cooling off on a hot day, it was their first time trying the Horse Soldier brand; for one or two, it was their first taste of bourbon period. Those on the panel were excited to find people experiencing the adult beverage for the first time, a drink that Kentucky is known for all around the world.

In fact, the "Bourbon Trail" — a series of distilleries primarily located in central Kentucky — is one of the state's most popular tourist draws, with visitors growing into the millions in recent years. Keck hoped to bring a distillery to Somerset to make this area the southern end of the Bourbon Trail, and Horse Soldier aims to provide a one-of-a-kind bourbon tourism destination in Kentucky.

Keck said that he wants to "promote anything that brings folks together," whether that be bourbon, food, art, music, etc.

"Let's celebrate and promote Horse Soldier," he said. "They are going to be our hometown bourbon, they're going to make this place even more special."

Perkins and Ahlgrim were pleased to be on hand for the beginnings of a new bourbon hot spot on the southern side of Kentucky.

"It means the world really, because we're both born and raised here in Kentucky," said said Perkins. "Tourism and people coming to explore Kentucky means a lot to us. The fact that Horse Soldier is building what's going to be such an amazing facility in Somerset means a lot, because everything's happening in Louisville. We've got things happening in Lexington, in Bardstown. But to spread it out across the state like this and for them to be on the Bourbon Trail and be another stop, that's really huge."

Added Ahlgrim, "I think it's amazing how this community has come together. Whether you're here for music, the food or the bourbon, it's the community coming together to lift each other up and that's awesome."

While the Horse Soldiers may be well known because of their service to their country, this is no vanity label for them — this is them making Somerset their new Kentucky home, as Neil explained to those gathered at the MMF event.

"Our story is true," said Neil. "We're not some kind of celebrity brand. I guarantee you Terry Bradshaw doesn't make bourbon. Let's talk about our celebrity bourbons today; do you think they are in the small town, they are employing people? They're not doing that, but we are."